Nations agree first mercury-emissions treaty

More than 140 countries at UN meeting in Geneva adopt legally binding international treaty to reduce mercury emissions.

Greenpeace Protestors

Jan 22, 2013

More than 140 nations have adopted the first legally-binding
international treaty aimed at reducing mercury emissions, UN officials
have said.

The UN Environment Programme said the treaty was adopted after
all-night negotiations that capped a week of talks in Geneva,
Switzerland.

A signing ceremony will be held later this year, and then nations
must begin formally ratifying the treaty before it comes into force
several years from now.

"To agree on global targets is not easy to do," UNEP executive
director Achim Steiner said. "There was no delegation here that wished
to leave Geneva without drafting a treaty."

The agreement will for the first time set enforceable limits on
emissions of mercury, a highly toxic metal that is widely used in
chemical production and small-scale mining, and exclude, phase out or
restrict some products that contain mercury.

But some supporters of the treaty said they were not satisfied with the agreement.

Joe DiGangi, a science adviser with advocacy group IPEN, which works
for the elimination of persistent organic pollutants, said that while
the treaty is "a first step," it is not tough enough to achieve its aim
of reducing overall emissions.